ODROID-C2

Description

ODROID-C2

The ODROID-C2 is a 64-bit quad-core single board computer(SBC) that is one of the most cost-effective 64bit development boards available in the ARM world. It can function as a home theater set-top box, a general purpose computer for web browsing, gaming and socializing, a compact tool for college or office work, a prototyping device for hardware tinkering, a controller for home automation, a workstation for software development, and much more.

Some of the modern operating systems that run on the ODROID-C2 are Ubuntu, Android, ARCHLinux, Debian, with thousands of free open-source software packages available. The ODROID-C2 is an ARM device -- the most advanced architecture for mobile devices and embedded 64-bit computing. The ARM processor’s small size, reduced complexity and low power consumption makes it very suitable for miniaturized devices such as wearables and embedded controllers.

* An additional MicroSD card or an eMMC module is required to install the OS.We recommend the eMMC module as it has much higher performance than standard MicroSD cards.

* Remove the Jumper on J1, if you don't use the USB OTG port as a power input. It will reduce the power consumption and heat significantly.

* NOTE: ARM 64bit is a very new platform and some system specific Linux software is less stable. Due to a number of compatibility issues, we may need more time to resolve issues that may arise.

STORY ABOUT THE ODROID-C2

Here is the comparisons to give you better understanding of ODROID-C2.

ODROID-C2 vs ODROID-C1 vs Raspberry Pi2

Both are Linux-friendly ARM® single-board computers for various applications and purposes.

Hardware Comparison

The ODROID-C2 has many advantages over the Raspberry Pi2.

The processor is an S905 1.5GHz Quad-core from Amlogic with 2GByte DDR3 RAM, Gigabit-Ethernet and IR-receiver. The size of this computer is still only 85 x 56 mm with a weight of 40g, and offers silent operation, 2~5W average power usage, and instant portability, since it fits in a shirt pocket.

One powerful feature of the ODROID-C2 is an SD 3.01 standard compatible UHS-1 MicroSD card, as well as the faster eMMC module, can be ordered with the ODROID-C2, and arrives with the popular Ubuntu operating system already installed. Insert the MicroSD card into the slot, connect a monitor, a keyboard, a mouse, Ethernet and power cable, and that’s all you need to do to use the ODROID-C2! Browse the web, play games, run office programs, edit photos, develop software, and watch videos right away.

The ODROID-C2 also has a 40+7pin GPIO header to make a physical interface between the board and the outside world. The 40+7pin interface headers include PWM, I2C, I2S, UART, ADC and GPIO function.

The IR receiver and ADC features on the ODROID-C2 offer many options for building great DIY projects.

ODROID-C2

ODROID-C1+

RPi 2 Model B

CPU

Amlogic S905 SoC

4 x ARM Cortex-A53 1.5GHz

64bit ARMv8 Architecture @28nm

Amlogic S805 SoC

4 x ARM Cortex-A5 1.5GHz

32bit ARMv7 Architecture @28nm

Broadcom BCM2836

4 x ARM Cortex-A7 900MHz

32bit ARMv7 Architecture @40nm

GPU

3 x ARM Mali-450 MP 700MHz

2 x ARM Mali-450 MP 600MHz

1 x VideoCore IV 250MHz

RAM

2GB 32bit DDR3 912MHz

1GB 32bit DDR3 792MHz

1GB 32bit LP-DDR2 400MHz

Flash Storage

Micro-SD UHS-1 @83Mhz/SDR50 oreMMC5.0 storage option

Micro-SD UHS-1 @78Mhz/SDR50 oreMMC4.5 storage option

Micro-SD @ 50Mhz/SDR25No eMMC storage option

USB2.0 Host

4 Ports

4 Ports

4Ports

USB2.0 Device /

OTG

1 Port for Linux USB Gadget device orUSB host

1 Port for Linux USB Gadget device orUSB host

No

Ethernet / LAN

10 / 100 / 1000 Mbit/s

10 / 100 / 1000 Mbit/s

10 / 100 Mbit/s

Video Output

HDMI 2.0 4K / 60Hz

HDMI 1.4

HDMI 1.4 / RCA / DSI

Audio Output

HDMI / I2S

HDMI / I2S

MDMI / 3.5mm Jack / I2S

Camera Input

USB 720p

USB 720p

MIPI CSI 1080p

Real Time Clock

No (unless using an add-on module)

Yes (on-board RTC)

No (unless using an add-on module)

IR Receiver

Yes (on-board IR sensor)

Yes ( on-board IR sensor)

No (unless using an add-on module)

IO Expansion

40 + 7 pin portGPIO / UART / I2C / I2S / ADC

40 + 7 pin portGPIO / UART / SPI / I2C / I2S / ADC

40 pin portGPIO / UART / SPI / I2S

ADC

10bit SAR 2 channels

10bit SAR 2 channels

No (unless using an add-on board)

Heat sink

Included

Included

Optional

Size

85 x 56 mm (3.35 x 2.2 inch)

85 x 56 mm (3.35 x 2.2 inch)

85 x 56 mm (3.35 x 2.2 inch)

Weight

40g (1.41oz)

40g (1.41oz)

42g (1.48oz)

CPU and RAM performance comparison

We ran several different benchmarks to measure the computing power on the ODROID-C2. The same tests were performed on the Raspberry Pi 2, ODROID-C1, ODROID-U3 and ODROID-XU4 for easier comparison.

The values of the test results were scaled uniformly for comparison purposes. The computing power of the C2 was measured to be ~2-3 times faster than the latest Raspberry Pi 2 thanks to the 1.5Ghz Cortex-A53 cores and much higher memory bandwidth. The high-performance 2GB DDR3 RAM is an additional advantage allowing most programs to run smoothly on the C2. The best performance that we can archive is the below.

Benchmarks (Index Score)

Raspberry Pi 2

ODROID-C1

ODROID-U3

ODROID-C2

ODROID-XU4

Dhrystone-2

1006.6

1262.8

2300.7

2623.9

3994.1

Double-Precision Whetstone (x3)

1076.1

1318.8

2217.9

3015.6

3074.7

Nbench 2.2.3 Integer (x40)

840.0

1208.0

1648.0

1764.0

2451.1

Nbench 2.2.3 FP (x100)

809.0

1050.0

1860.0

2210.1

2536.9

SysBench CPU (1/T * 50000)

6669.3

902.2

1497.0

2040.8

2891.8

Memory BandWidth (mbw 100 : MiB/s)

557.1

1069.6

736.6

3171.6

3243.8

Antutu Scores on Android5.1 Lollipop

ODROID-C2 shows around 33,700pts while ODROID-C1+ shows around 21,200pts. So you can run Android OS more smoothly. Note that the XU4 shows around 51,000pts thanks to the much faster A15 cores and Mali-T628 MP6 GPU cores. But the ODROID-C2 has higher rate of the “Performance per Dollar” probably.

Storage I/O comparison

The C2 can boot from a MicroSD card or an eMMC module. The MicroSD interface supports the higher performance UHS-1 mode as well. File access of a 512MB file (read/write) on two different storage options shows distinct performance differences. The eMMC 5.0 storage is ~7x faster than the MicroSD Class-10 card in read tests. The MicroSD UHS-1 card is ~2x faster than the MicroSD Class-10 card in read tests. The MicroSD UHS-1 card provides a great low-cost option for many applications!

The ODRID-C2 has an on-board Gigabit Ethernet controller. Our bi-directional streaming speed was measured at ~900Mbps. Thanks to the doubled Tx buffer in S905, the upload speed is twice faster than C1.

When we first got the information of S905 and its price, we were so amazed. We had started outlining the product concept. It was rather simple. The ODROID-C1+ fulfils the most of customers' requirement.

The hardware design of the ODROID-C2 was started from May 2015. The performance of the S905 is twice faster than S805, and it support HS400 eMMC Mode which also increase the data transfer speed two time faster. The RAM is also doubled to 2GB on C2 while the C1+ has 1GB. There are 4 x 512MB RAMs, two on top and two on bottom.

The first revision had same blue color as C1+.

This revision was used only for internal software development and evaluation. Board Revision 0.1

It took around two months to evaluate and update the hardware design. The first revision board was on our hands in September 2015. The color of the C2 PCB is changed to black from this revision for easier distinguish from the C1+ board.

ARMv8 64bit processor requires more optimization work than our expectation. After 9months software work, we could send around 40 units of this revision to forum members in January 2016. http://forum.odroid.com/viewtopic.php?f=135&t=18683We give special thanks to our valuable forum members for the feedback and support on this project.

We officially announced this project via our forum in February 2016. Board Revision 0.2

This is the first mass production version.A few missing/wrong GPIO pins on the 40pin header are corrected.